Hein signs $355M budget that lowers Ulster tax levy

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By Michael Randall

recordonline.com

By Michael Randall

Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By Michael Randall
Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

KINGSTON – With more than a dozen legislators and municipal leaders looking on, Ulster County Executive Mike Hein on Monday signed the 2013 budget that lowers the property tax levy for the first time in more than a decade.

“It’s a monumental day in Ulster County,” Hein said.

In addition to lowering the tax levy by .2 percent, the $355.3 million budget also calls for the county to begin assuming responsibility for the Safety Net program – social service costs currently borne by municipalities.

The change is to be phased in over three years.

Ulster County is the last county in the state to take on those expenses.

The budget also requires all waste generated in the county to cross the Resource Recovery Agency scales, which officials say will help pay off the agency’s $23 million in debt and solve its volume problems.